Walker realises England dream

07 February 2011 09:00

Kyle Walker admits he has taken inspiration from Gary Neville and Ashley Cole after realising his dream of a first England call-up.

Walker was playing in the Championship with QPR just over a month ago but is now in contention to win his first England cap in Wednesday's friendly with Denmark in Copenhagen.

He said: "When I became a right-back my coach told me 'look at Gary Neville and Ashley Cole'. He said 'look at Cole in terms of going forward and Neville for the defending' and I would learn a lot. That's what I've done."

Walker added: "I've always looked up to Gary Neville. He's not the quickest and isn't really like an Ashley Cole getting forward.

"But not many people beat him. You're not going to stay at Manchester United for nearly 20 years if you're not good at defending."

The 20-year-old is on loan from Tottenham to Aston Villa for the remainder of the season and scored his first Premier League goal in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Fulham.

He continued: "It was nice to hear people saying that Fabio Capello was name-checking me recently and that he was looking at me.

"To get a call-up has always been a dream. It has come quickly. That's the way football goes."

"One minute I am playing for QPR in the Championship, next minute I am at Villa and now this has happened (England). These things can happen.

"I've played for Under-19s, 20s and 21s so the next step is the full squad."